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Related Concept Videos

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Sleep apnea is a condition where breathing stops intermittently during sleep, often leading to significant health issues. Each episode can last from 10 to 20 seconds or more and is frequently accompanied by a brief arousal from sleep. This disturbance, largely unnoticed by the individual, can lead to severe daytime fatigue. Commonly, individuals seek help after being informed by their partners about loud snoring and noticeable breathing pauses during sleep.
The condition is more prevalent among...
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Aging01:26

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 13, 2026

A Chronic Sleep Fragmentation Model using Vibrating Orbital Rotor to Induce Cognitive Deficit and Anxiety-Like Behavior in Young Wild-Type Mice
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A Chronic Sleep Fragmentation Model using Vibrating Orbital Rotor to Induce Cognitive Deficit and Anxiety-Like Behavior in Young Wild-Type Mice

Published on: September 22, 2020

Obstructive sleep apnea and age: a double insult to brain function?

Liat Ayalon1, Sonia Ancoli-Israel, Sean P A Drummond

  • 1Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA. layalon@ucsd.edu

American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
|April 17, 2010
PubMed
Summary

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) combined with aging overwhelms the brain, impairing cognitive function and compensatory responses. Early OSA diagnosis and treatment are crucial for maintaining brain health.

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Multi-Modal Home Sleep Monitoring in Older Adults
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Published on: January 26, 2019

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Last Updated: Jun 13, 2026

A Chronic Sleep Fragmentation Model using Vibrating Orbital Rotor to Induce Cognitive Deficit and Anxiety-Like Behavior in Young Wild-Type Mice
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Multi-Modal Home Sleep Monitoring in Older Adults
07:40

Multi-Modal Home Sleep Monitoring in Older Adults

Published on: January 26, 2019

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Gerontology
  • Sleep Medicine

Background:

  • Healthy aging and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) share similarities in cognitive deficits.
  • Older adults exhibit compensatory brain activation during cognitive tasks despite neurocognitive decline, mirroring patterns seen in OSA.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if combined age and OSA exacerbate cognitive compensatory responses beyond individual effects.
  • To determine if the brain's capacity to compensate is overwhelmed by the co-occurrence of aging and OSA.

Main Methods:

  • 14 patients with OSA and 14 age-matched controls were divided into young (<45) and middle-aged (≥45) groups.
  • Participants underwent polysomnography followed by functional MRI assessing sustained attention and verbal encoding.
  • Comparative analyses focused on middle-aged OSA patients against other groups.

Main Results:

  • Middle-aged OSA patients demonstrated poorer word recall and slower reaction times than all other groups.
  • Functional MRI revealed decreased activation in task-related brain regions for middle-aged OSA patients compared to controls and younger OSA patients.
  • These findings indicate impaired cognitive performance and reduced brain activation in individuals with both OSA and advanced age.

Conclusions:

  • The combination of OSA and increasing age significantly impairs cognitive performance and compensatory brain function.
  • These results highlight that OSA can overwhelm the brain's capacity to cope with cognitive demands earlier than typically expected.
  • Early detection and management of OSA are vital to prevent cognitive decline and preserve brain function in aging populations.